Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 22:23

O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

23. “Judah has been as confident of safety as a bird that had fixed its nest far away from men in the cedars on the heights of Lebanon.” Pe.

inhabitant ] For mg. inhabitress see on Jer 21:13.

how greatly to be pitied ] The mg. how wilt thou groan is probably the right reading (so LXX, Syr. and Targ. The MT. is a not unnatural corruption arising from a transposition of two consonants).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Lebanon is the usual metaphor for anything splendid. and is here put for Jerusalem, but with special reference to the kings whose pride it was to dwell in palaces roofed with cedar Jer 22:14.

How gracious shalt thou be – Or, How wilt thou groan!

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jer 22:23

O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars.

The nest in the cedars

The inhabitant of Lebanon, that maketh his nest in the cedars, is an illustration of all those who, in the pride and security of the present, are blind to the uncertainties of the future.

I. Why is it that Gods message takes such little hold of the heart? He pours out all His love in pleading with men. Seek ye My face. Has the answer gone up from your heart, Thy face, Lord, will I seek? If not, why not? Are you making a nest for yourself among the cedars? dreaming yourself to be secure, and, like the false Church in the Apocalypse, saying to yourself, I shall see no sorrow? What is the ground of your security? Has the hand of diligence surrounded you with comforts? The cheerful home, the well-spread table, the smiling faces of children,–are these your portion? Oh, how often are these things as the nest in the cedars! Or the nest may be of another kind–framed out of self-righteousness and moral excellence. In short, whatever it be which holds back the heart from Christ, and prompts the vain hope that all will be well at last, though there be no conscious faith, nor any evidence of a converted heart, that is your nest among the cedars. Though now heedless to the call of God, the storm must ere long burst on the cedar, and rive it to its roots, laying in the dust the nest that seemed so safe in its towering branches. Disappointment, loss, disaster, trial, death, the judgment,–what are these in their turn but just the lightning flash which strips the cedar of its foliage, and leaves the nest exposed to the scorching of the summers heat, and the withering of the winters frost? What are they all but Gods instruments for shivering into ruins the miserable refuges in which men seek shelter and comfort amid the experiences of time, and in the prospect of eternity?

II. When the cedars are fallen, how bitter the disappointment! The world, its business, its pleasures, its cares, its struggles, its joys, its sorrows,–all are fast vanishing. Snap the cedars go! and meanwhile there is dismay at the review of the past, and the still darker prospect of the future! Behind, a life spent with the form of godliness, but entirely without God. Before, is death, the sifting of the judgment, eternity. Behind, a life given up to earth and earthly things. Before, an immortality, over the far-reaching expanse of which no star of hope sheds a gleam of life and peace. Can we wonder if the soul shrinks back in alarm, if dark forebodings haunt the spirit, and prayers, and regrets, and vows, and promises blend together as the outward expression of anxiety and fear?

III. Where can you build your hopes and not find them shattered and broken by disappointment. Not among the cedars, but in the hollow of that Rock of Ages, which defies the howling of the tempest, and the sweep of the hurricane–which stands forth calm and stately in its strength, amid the shocks of time, and shall lift its head unshaken, even when the earth and all that is in it shall be dissolved and broken up. The memory of guilt and shortcoming, and the record of transgression are terrible, hut to the humble and believing Christian they can bring neither harm nor hurt. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide beneath the shadow of the Almighty. (R. Allen, M. A.)

A sure refuge

I. The insufficiency of every human aid, as illustrated by the prophet in the example of the inhabitant of Lebanon. Lebanon was a noble and a stately mountain, the pride and the ornament of the Eastern world. Its summit was crested with eternal snows, while its sides were adorned with forests of the graceful and goodly cedar. Beneath were slopes of rich pasturage, on which were fed unnumbered flocks and herds. Rivulets gushed from the fissures, and separated among the hills, which afforded refreshment to the fainting traveller, and maintained in native purity of freshness the verdure of the mountain side. No image could more expressively convey to the mind of an Israelite all that man most highly esteems of grandeur, magnificence, and beauty. But the idea of security is also implied. In many human ills, money, as the wise man says, is a defence; and the rich man, in a land of commerce like our own, is as the inhabitant of Lebanon, compared with the dweller in the plain below. The winds may rage, and the storm beat; but his airy dwelling place is unmoved. The enemy may spread themselves over the plain; but his house of defence is the munitions of rocks. How enviable a condition! you will say, But Ah! the things that are impossible with men, are possible with God. Lightning from heaven above may blast the towering cedar; the earthquake muttering from beneath may rend the solid rock: or even when the wave reposes without a ripple or an undulation on the surface of the mountain lake, the stroke of death may come suddenly, the strong mans fortress may be powerless in an instant, as a woman in her travail, or as the infant just struggling into birth.

II. For all who will seek it there is a sure refuge, whatever may be the danger, and an invincible arm of defence, whoever may be we adversary. St. Paul indeed said, in reference to the times of fiery persecution in which his own lot was cast, that if in this life only they had hope in Christ, believers were of all men most miserable; but what was then the present distress, has happily passed away, and godliness is now truly profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. All creation is redolent of joy and peace to the true believer in Christ Jesus. He knows, that God hath made with him an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; that all His ways are mercy and truth, unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies; and that no truly good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. So long, then, as prosperity continues, enjoyment is enhanced by thankfulness; and when adversity comes upon him, suffering is lightened by faith. The light affliction, which is upon him, will, he knows, work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, etc. (T. Dale, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 23. How gracious shalt thou be] A strong irony.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Jerusalem, which is called an

inhabitant of Lebanon, either because their houses were built of wood cut down out of the forest of Lebanon, or because they lived in as great plenty and delight as if they lived in Lebanon, or because they thought the mountain of Lebanon was a certain refuge to them. They are said to

make their nest in the cedars, either because their houses were built of the cedars of Lebanon, or because of the security they promised themselves from that forest and mountain, so full of and famous for cedars. What favour wilt thou find when my judgments shall come upon thee, as suddenly and as smartly as the pains of a woman in travail come upon her! a similitude often made use of by this prophet, to express the suddenness, unavoidableness, and greatness of judgments, Jer 4:31; 6:24; 13:21; 30:6; 49:24; 50:43; and so in other scriptures, Psa 48:6; Mic 4:9; 1Th 5:3.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

23. inhabitant of Lebanonnamely,Jerusalem, whose temple, palaces, and principal habitations werebuilt of cedars of Lebanon.

how graciousirony. Howgraciously thou wilt be treated by the Chaldees, when they come onthee suddenly, as pangs on a woman in travail (Jer6:24)! Nay, all thy fine buildings will win no favor for theefrom them. MAURERtranslates, “How shalt thou be to be pitied!“

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

O inhabitant of Lebanon,…. Jerusalem is meant, and the inhabitants of it, so called, because they lived near Lebanon, or in that land in which Lebanon was; or rather because they dwelt in houses made of the wood of Lebanon; and which stood as thick as the trees in the forest of Lebanon; and where they thought themselves safe and secure, according to the next clause; not but that there were inhabitants of the mountain of Lebanon, called Druses; and there were towns and villages on it, inhabited by people, as there are to this day. After four hours and a half travelling up the ascent, from the foot of the mountain, there is, as travellers z inform us, a small pretty village, called Eden; and besides that, at some distance from it, another called Canobine, where there is a convent of the Maronites, and is the seat of their patriarch; and near it a valley of that name, full of hermitages, cells and monasteries; but the former are here meant;

that makest thy nests in the cedars; in towns, palaces, and houses, covered, ceiled, raftered, and wainscotted with cedars; here they lived at ease and security, as birds in a nest. The Targum is,

“who dwellest in the house of the sanctuary, and among kings? nourishing thy children;”

how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail? that is, either thou wilt seek grace and favour at the hand of God, and make supplication to him; thou wilt then be an humble supplicant, when in distress, though now proud and haughty a: or what favour wilt thou then find among those that come to waste and destroy thee? This refers to the calamity coming upon them by the Chaldeans, as the following words show:

z Maundrell’s Journey from Aleppo, c. p. 142, 143. Thevenot’s Travels, part 1. B. 2. c. 60. p. 221. a “quam gratiam habuisti, [vel] quomodo precata es”, Vatablus “quam afficieris gratia”, Piscator; “quantum gratiae invenies”, Schmidt.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Prophet confirms the same thing in other words; and hence it appears how difficult it is to shake off from men their false confidence, when they give themselves up to earthly things. As soon, then, as false confidence strikes its roots into the hearts of men, they cannot be moved either by any threatenings or by any dangers; even though death itself were hanging over them, they yet remain unconcerned: and hence Isaiah upbraids them and says, That they had made a covenant with death. (Isa 28:15.) This was the reason why the Prophet here multiplied words and used greater vehemence; it was for the purpose of correcting that perverseness which prevailed among the Jews; for they thought themselves beyond the reach of those darts which God’s hands would throw.

He therefore says, that they had set their seat on Lebanon, and made their nest among the cedars Some interpreters understand this figuratively of the cedar houses in which they dwelt; that is, that they ornamented their houses or palaces, as we have seen, with boards of cedar. But I take the words more simply, — That they considered Lebanon as an impregnable stronghold, and that he compares them to birds which choose the highest cedars to make their nests in. The meaning is, that the Jews were so blinded by their pride, that they thought that they had Lebanon as a safe refuge, and also that they imagined that they had nests as it were in its cedars. But there is no doubt but that the Prophet, in mentioning this one particular, meant to include all those false and vain confidences with which the Jews were inebriated. But he speaks by way of concession, as though he had said, that the Jews were not terrified by God’s threatenings, because they cast their eyes on Lebanon and on its lofty cedars.

But how gracious, he says, wilt thou be; that is, what grace wilt thou find, when sorrows shall come upon thee, the pain as of one in travail (64) The Prophet expresses here what often occurs in Scripture, that when the ungodly say, “Peace and safety,” sudden ruin comes on them. (1Th 5:3.) He then does not allow that the Jews gained anything by thinking that they would have a quiet station on Lebanon, and by having their nests in the cedars, for God would bring on them sudden pains like those of women, who, while laughing and full of mirth, are in a moment seized with the pangs of childbearing. Jeremiah now says, that a similar thing would happen to the Jews. I touch but lightly on this point, while yet it is worthy of long and careful meditation. Let us then know, that nothing is more intolerable to God than when we promise to ourselves a quiet rest while he proclaims war against us, and while we, as it were designedly, daily provoke him. It follows —

(64) The former part of this passage is differently rendered by all the early versions: the Sept., “thou wilt groan;” the Vulg., “how thou hast groaned;” the Syr., “how much wilt thou groan.” The reading adopted was נהנת, from נהה, instead of נחנת, for the י is not found in many copies, nor in the Keri, nor in connection with the two participles at the beginning of the verse. The Targ. has “what wilt thou do.” Most of modern expounders take the text as we have it, and there are no different readings. Then the whole verse would read as follows, —

23. Inhabitress of Lebanon! nestler in the cedars! How graceful (or favored) shalt thou be, When come on thee shall throes, A pain like that of childbearing!

The gender is feminine, and either Jerusalem or the house or family of David is meant. The word for “throes” means girding pains or pangs. The verse is the language of irony. The people were so hardened, that nothing else would have touched them. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(23) O, inhabitant of Lebanon.The phrase develops the thought of Jer. 22:6. The king, in his cedar-palace, is as one who has made Lebanon his home, literally and figuratively (see Note on Jer. 22:7), and is as an eagle nestling in the cedar.

How gracious shalt thou be . . .!Better, how wilt thou sigh! or, how wilt thou groan! as connected with the pangs of travail. No pomp or majesty could save the royal house from the inevitable doom.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

23. Inhabitant of Lebanon That is, Jerusalem, so called in double allusion to her buildings of cedar and her sense of loftiness and security.

How gracious Rather, how wilt thou groan!

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments